Modded Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Home Workstation/Gaming Rig

[23RO_UK]

I finished it up late this morning, it went together by the numbers including mounting the CPU block (some reviewers had expressed they had issue with this); I'll post some glamour pics up in the coming days - it's to nice a day to be cocooned inside and there is more cold beer waiting to drink

 

[Warchild]

I love the fact that all the builds popping up... not a single one is an intel 10th Gen processor

Almost makes them a rare item.

 

[Avet]

:wub: So clean. Simply gorgeous. Well done.

I would also put duct tape around the radiator on top to prevent hot air recirculating.

 

[23RO_UK]

I love the fact that all the builds popping up... not a single one is an intel 10th Gen processor

Almost makes them a rare item.

I can't think why @Warchild can you?

:wub: So clean. Simply gorgeous. Well done.

I would also put duct tape around the radiator on top to prevent hot air recirculating.

Thank you for the kind words @Avet, really appreciated

I'll certainly give the duct tape suggestion a try, nothing ventured, nothing gained - overall though, the new fan config/CLC change has seen drops of CPU/GPU temps by as much as 6°C

 

[23RO_UK]

A 24 hour test (just over 25 hours in point of fact) to monitor CPU, GPU and system temperatures; I've also included the CPU performance for the same period (3900x).

I gave my rig a proper kicking (so to speak) in this period to see how the cooling held up, ambient temps were as high as 26°C at one point.

Yeah, I'll take that

 

[Avet]

I would go with higher Memory clocks. 3200 CL 14 is good for Intel. But with AMD I would go with 3600 or 3800 with tight timings and also adequately adjust Infinity fabric etc.

 

[tinytomlogan]

I would go with higher Memory clocks. 3200 CL 14 is good for Intel. But with AMD I would go with 3600 or 3800 with tight timings and also adequately adjust Infinity fabric etc.

3600 is a pretty good spot for AMD in my experience, especially if youre willing to work on the timings yourself.

 

[23RO_UK]

I would go with higher Memory clocks. 3200 CL 14 is good for Intel. But with AMD I would go with 3600 or 3800 with tight timings and also adequately adjust Infinity fabric etc.

@Avet, I use a 3200 CL14 1T profile for gaming and a 3600 14 16 16 16 1T profile for productivity

3600 is a pretty good spot for AMD in my experience, especially if youre willing to work on the timings yourself.

@TTL, I'm still working on optimising both my 3200 and 3600 profile timings, I agree 3600 seems to be the sweet spot in general however.

Secondly, it was your very own review which prompted my purchase of the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master Guv, it truly is an amazing Motherboard

 

[23RO_UK]

Here are the pictures of the wee beast in it's natural habitat (one week later)

 

[23RO_UK]

And lastly, some pics I took of it's predecessor after a thorough strip down and cleanup; it's now boxed for a rainy day - I just thought I'd add these as they show the detail of the custom front and interior modifications.

 

[23RO_UK]

Just a quick update...

As part of the rebuild I upgraded to 32Gb (2x16Gb kits) of Patriot Viper Steel DDR4 PC4-32000C19 4000Mhz DDR4 (PVS416G400C9K) -

Well, I finally got around to dialling it in and tightening up the timings -

32Gb of DDR4 running timings of 15 15 15 30 1T @3600MHz, result!!

 

[Avet]

Just a quick update...

As part of the rebuild I upgraded to 32Gb (2x16Gb kits) of Patriot Viper Steel DDR4 PC4-32000C19 4000Mhz DDR4 (PVS416G400C9K) -

Well, I finally got around to dialling it in and tightening up the timings -

32Gb of DDR4 running timings of 15 15 15 30 1T @3600MHz, result!!

Sweet. That Viper B-Die is magical.

 

[23RO_UK]

Sweet. That Viper B-Die is magical.

I couldn't agree more Avet, in terms of bank per buck it sure takes some beating; I'm pleased beyond words with the timings I've achieved with it

 

[AlienALX]

Bloody good price that RAM is too. I nearly bought it when I got my new PC. It's also some of the best looking too, IMO.

 

[23RO_UK]

Bloody good price that RAM is too. I nearly bought it when I got my new PC. It's also some of the best looking too, IMO.

Agreed AlienALX, If you shop around you can pick up the same kits as mine for under 100 quid; price wise it's an absolute steal for the performance you get AND it's B Die.

In terms of the build quality of the modules themselves, well to be honest it's flawless; the gun metal finish is just plain sexy and a perfect match for my motherboards heatsinks

Basically, if your not into or don't require RGB they're the kits to get for Ryzen IMHO.

 

[23RO_UK]

So whilst I wait on the availability of a 5900X and a 3080 (or AMD equivalent) I dropped on a pair of these for under 200 quid (an early Amazon Black Friday deal).

These will replace my existing Samsung 970 Evo Plus (500Gb) and Samsung 960 Evo (500Gb), coupled with my existing pair of Crucial MX500 1TB SATA SSD's it will give me 4TB's of fast storage

 

[23RO_UK]

Here's how the new storage solution has played out -

(all drives safely operating within margin of error)


The two Sabrent's are the boot and dedicated game drives respectively, the two Crucial's are utilised as general storage/media drives.

 

[23RO_UK]

And so endeth the Lian Li story…

So after much fun with my O11 Air/Dynamic I decided it was time for a change in scene totally.

My reasons for this are simply that I needed more desktop real estate back (the O11 isn’t exactly the smallest of cases), I have no plans to go water cooling proper in the immediate future (the O11 is pretty much a water cooling enthusiasts chassis and current hardware availability or rather lack of has had a part in this decision), some of the current gen air coolers have on par with/if not better performance than CLC’s and lastly ease of maintenance (removing an air cooler to clean is far easier than your average CLC).

Here’s what I’ve gone with -

Say hello to the Fractal Design Define 7 Compact

I couldn’t be happier and that’s after living with it for the past two weeks; great chassis to work in and temps have exceeded all expectations when coupled with a Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black CPU cooler.

EDIT:- I forgot to mention, I've also swapped out the 3900X for a 5800X I picked up for £370 as opposed to it's current retail price of £419.99 (OCUK pricing at time of posting this).

 

[Dawelio]

Very clean build, I totally get your reasoning as I recently did the same move. I got the O11D Mini in january and only about a week ago changed to the much smaller Cooler Master NR200P case. It was just too bulky on my desk.

Since then, I've personally gone with the Noctua NH-U9S Chromax and I have an 3700X. Seeing as you have an 5800X and an Noctua air cooler, does your heatsink also ramp up randomly due to the CPU having spikes of boosting?...

I can hear my fan spin up if loading just 5 Youtube tabs for example, then it quickly slows down again. I've never had this issue with an AIO, which is why I'm strongly considering going AIO again. I went with air cooling as wanted the peace of mind of longevity and foremost reliability that of air coolers - basically only the fan(s) that can break.

 

[23RO_UK]

@Dawelio, Thank you dude much appreciated, a great choice of case and cooler on your part; I love the look of the CM NR200P and see it’s received rave reviews across the board.

In answer to your question, were I to do the same (open 5 YouTube tabs) it winds up briefly then spins back down again yes but it’s barely audible (you have to listen for it to notice); I’m thinking it’s less prominent because I have a 140mm fan mounted (as opposed to a 92mm) on my NH-D15S and I’ve also taken a fair amount of time to dial in custom fans curves.

As an example of temps, I played DiRT 4 for three hours solid, the CPU peaked at 67.9°C and the GPU (FE 2080) at 73.4°C; the ambient temperature of the room was 22.5°C.

Your point about the longevity and reliability of air coolers over CLC’s was another of my considerations to, whilst I’ve only ever had one fail (DOA basically) I’ve had others with unacceptable pump noise and whining; given the temps I’m getting (much to my surprise I might add) I’ll be sticking with air for the foreseeable future.